- 7 minutes ago
Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase are joined by Buffalo Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton to recap the Sabres 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon. Paul starts by laying out why the Sabres power play drained the life from their game after a dominant start. They also discuss the Sabres top players disappointing, and the need for another goal scorer to be added to the group.
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00:02Imagine Dion Phaneuf just driving around and catching strays like six years after I've retired for.
00:10Paul Hamilton joins us here.
00:12It's a football Monday.
00:13We'll talk plenty of Bills, Vikings as we roll through here.
00:16Football Monday brought to you by Tim Hortons, the official coffee of the Jeremy and Joe Morning Show on WGR.
00:21Start today strong with Tim Hortons and the Bills.
00:23We also have a Sabres game to recap because they played the Vegas Golden Knights last night,
00:27fell, or yesterday afternoon, however you want it, 4-1, 3-30 faceoff, and a loss for the Sabres.
00:34And our Sabres beat reporter, Paul Hamilton, joins us.
00:36His appearance brought to you by Ralex Honda.
00:38Ralex, we got this.
00:39Paul, good morning.
00:40Good morning, guys.
00:40How are you?
00:41Not bad, Paul.
00:42I feel like I had the same exact thing with you, not the Columbus game, the game before it, where
00:49I thought,
00:49you know, halfway through that game, I thought I was watching a good hockey game, and then it all kind
00:53of fell apart.
00:54The Sabres were excellent in the first period.
00:57Couldn't finish.
00:59And ultimately, you know, the other team finishes, and at the end of the game, you feel like the team
01:03played pretty well,
01:04but got the wrong result, and unfortunately, that has happened a bunch for this team this year.
01:10Yeah, and this one, I wouldn't say they played pretty well throughout.
01:13I mean, yeah, the first period was excellent.
01:15I mean, they picked up right where they left off Columbus, where they did play a really good game.
01:21But the problem was, they had all sorts of shot attempts.
01:25They had over 30 shot attempts in the first period, and they were missing the net, or Aiden Hill was
01:31making saves.
01:32They did hit a crossbar.
01:34The Cooley hit a crossbar.
01:36Later on, Timmons hit a post, something they're extremely good at.
01:41And, yeah, it was just, they couldn't get the puck in, and everything was, everything, but everything's going well.
01:48And I said to Brad at the end of the first period, I said, if they continue to play like
01:51this, I think they'll be fine.
01:52I think they'll be able to win the hockey game, and, you know, they were just doing all the right
01:58things.
01:58They didn't give up.
02:00Vegas had two power plays, and they had five shots or six shots, one or the other, in the first
02:05period.
02:06That was it.
02:07The Sabre penalty kill was excellent in the first period.
02:10They did a really good job, as Rob said, probably the two of their best kills they had all year.
02:16They had a breakaway.
02:18Noah Ostland had a breakaway shorthanded, but Hill made the save on that.
02:22So they couldn't score on their breakaway shorthanded.
02:26And, but, yeah, a good first period.
02:29And then right at the start of the second period, Quinn worked himself loose and came down the slot all
02:35by himself,
02:36and Hill made a great elbow save, and then it started.
02:41And it's like, well, what started?
02:44Well, Vegas started taking penalties, and you would say, well, good.
02:48That means the Sabres have, you know, some power plays.
02:51And maybe they can get themselves going.
02:54It was an absolute disaster.
02:57It was, I mean, disaster might be being nice.
03:01I mean, it was three of the worst power plays I have seen, and it totally, totally took them out
03:11of the game.
03:12You talk about the air going out.
03:14It was like that was that.
03:17I mean, they give up a breakaway to Carlson, Thompson, with a turnover, and Carlson walks in alone.
03:26Ellis makes two saves.
03:27I mean, he stops the breakaway and the rebound.
03:30All right, you got away with that one.
03:32Learn from it and do better.
03:36And, well, they weren't satisfied with that.
03:38They had to give Marner a breakaway.
03:40Thompson's at the blue line, was looking for Darlene, and next thing you know, Marner grabs the puck, steals it.
03:48He walks in alone.
03:50He doesn't make a mistake.
03:52Puts a great move on Ellis.
03:54And, you know, if you're going to keep giving short-handed breakaways, eventually one's going in.
03:59And that one did.
04:01And then just as the penalty ended, out comes Barberchev from the penalty box, like he shot out of a
04:08cannon.
04:09He goes towards the net.
04:12Power had a very, very uncharacteristic bad game.
04:16He gives the puck away, and Barberchev sets up Eichel quickly, and now the puck's in the net again.
04:22And the net was about a minute and a half later.
04:25So, basically, on the same penalty, you gave up two goals.
04:29The penalty was over by the time you gave up the second one, but it was the guy coming out
04:33of the box who really rattled everybody and got the turnover, and it's in your net.
04:40So, now you've given up two goals on your three power plays.
04:46Yes, and Buffalo had one chance, maybe, on the three power plays to score.
04:55I recall an Auslan one-timer from the circle, and that basically was the only scoring chance they had, and
05:03they never recovered.
05:04You know, once Vegas did that, Buffalo never recovered.
05:10So, really, at the end of the day, the Vegas stars came through, and the Buffalo, quote, stars didn't.
05:17Right.
05:18Yeah, and you mentioned Power Paul.
05:20Like, he's had a great season so far, but there's that moment, and then, man, like, the fourth line goes
05:26out there and gets the greasiest, dirtiest goal you've ever seen.
05:29And, like, okay, maybe there was 15 minutes left.
05:32Like, all right, let's see if they can get something off that.
05:35And then it was the next shift, right?
05:38Like, Power's too high, and Hurdle just walks around him.
05:42Yeah, yeah.
05:43I mean, there was one where Benson, you know, lost Hurdle, and then Power got caught flat-footed.
05:51It was just – and Hurdle just went right around him and then went in and scored.
05:56And then it looked like they were okay on the second one, too.
06:02But they went until they weren't.
06:05It was almost like he got caught on that one, too.
06:08And, you know, Hurdle just comes in and uses his speed and takes a shot, and that one goes in.
06:13Now it's 4-1 instead of 2-1.
06:15And you're right.
06:17You get that goal to make it 2-1, the Sabres know how to come back.
06:20I mean, they've come back in games.
06:22And it would have been another situation if you just got back to the way you played in the first
06:27period.
06:27You probably would have had a chance to tie the game.
06:29You know, but they just – they got rattled.
06:34It's something that you don't see very often with them, but they got rattled after those three really, really bad
06:40power plays.
06:41And, as you mentioned, they did get the good greasy goal where it's like, all right, you worked and worked
06:49and worked
06:50until finally the puck went in the net and, you know, build on that.
06:55But they couldn't build on that.
06:56And I'm just kind of at a loss.
07:00I just – I don't remember seeing a power play that bad that it just totally, totally flipped a game
07:10from you're playing extremely well to you're playing some of your worst hockey.
07:17Paul Hamilton joins us.
07:18Paul, you know, on that point you said, like, Vegas' stars stepped up and were stars and the Sabres weren't.
07:23That was the feeling I had after this game was that the Sabres' finishers – and this seems to be
07:29a growing conversation –
07:31who do I trust to finish a scoring chance for them?
07:35It's Tage and Quinn.
07:37And am I done at that point?
07:39I mean, Matias Samuelson is pretty high up the list for guys that finish when they get a chance, right?
07:44And I don't know if the power play is so consistently rough because of its structure,
07:50but also that I'm just – I'm not exactly flush with guys that get the puck in the net to
07:55begin with.
07:56Yeah.
07:57I mean, Noah Austin's a very, very good hockey player.
08:01But the opponent will give him a one-timer out of that circle every single time.
08:06They will absolutely slant towards Quinn and Tage Thompson.
08:12And if Austin wants to take a one-timer all night long, they'll let him.
08:15He just doesn't – you know, that's not his thing.
08:18He's not a real great one-time shooter over there.
08:22And I think he had the only chance.
08:25It was a one-timer from over there.
08:27So – and the thing that I can't explain, Jeremy, really, it's happening at home.
08:34Yeah.
08:34On the road, they have been able to score goals.
08:38But it's like one goal in this game, one goal in the Philadelphia game, one goal in the Ottawa game.
08:43They were shut out by Utah.
08:45It all happened at home.
08:47So, I scratch my head going, how come these guys – look at the damage Tage did on the road.
08:54Five goals in two games and – you know, but I don't get it.
09:00I know why can't you score in this building, but you can score when you're away from Buffalo.
09:05Yeah.
09:06I think Lindy has talked about that, too, Paul.
09:08Like, maybe there's, like, a different – like, they get pressure when the crowd gets on them at home.
09:14I don't know what it is.
09:15Yeah.
09:16I can't explain it either.
09:17Doesn't it go beyond the power play at this point?
09:19Like, last year in the regular season, they were great at home.
09:22Like, they were, I think, the fourth best team at home during the regular season.
09:25But since the playoffs, like, we got this thing where they're better on the road than they are at home.
09:31And I sometimes wonder if that's just random or maybe it's this power play point.
09:34But they're 4-5 at home this season.
09:37They're better on the road.
09:38They were better on the road in the playoffs.
09:40And I just think it's a little weird.
09:42Yeah.
09:42Two games on the road, they went 4-6 in the power play.
09:46Right.
09:47They were a long way from 4 out of 6 yesterday.
09:53And it's just basically bad puck decisions.
09:58And, again, are you trying to be too fancy at home?
10:02I'm just kind of throwing things out there.
10:03I mean, because, as I said, you were 4-6 in the power play on the road.
10:09But are you making bad puck decisions where it's not even working at all,
10:14where you're getting opportunities at home?
10:16Are you trying to be too fine?
10:20What was it, 35 shot attempts maybe in the first period alone?
10:24Times that by three.
10:26You have over 100 shot attempts if you keep that up.
10:31But with over 30 shot attempts in the first period, you didn't score.
10:37You hit a crossbar.
10:39I mean, you had a two-on-one.
10:41I mean, you hit a crossbar.
10:43You had a three-on-two with Krebs coming right down the middle.
10:46Hill makes the save.
10:49That save he made on Quinn to start the second period, that was a great save.
10:53You know, off the elbow, Quinn came open down the slot.
10:57But there were so many times where I wrote in my notes, shot wide, shot wide, shot over the net,
11:03shot wide.
11:05Are they being a little too fancy or a little too fine in their shooting at home more than on
11:10the road?
11:11Again, I'm at a loss at it because they just do not score goals here.
11:16Well, the guy I'm also looking at, Paul, now and wondering where we're at with him.
11:19Because you mentioned, like, Oslin, and I agree, like, his thing is not ripping one-timers from that side.
11:25And, like, they've got a lot of forwards.
11:28I think even, like, Doan and Benson could fit into this a bit.
11:31Like, that can score the greasy goals, score the hard-working goals.
11:35But who are the guys that are going to finish when they have chances?
11:39Thompson does it.
11:39Quinn does it.
11:40I mean, isn't Kulik supposed to be on that list?
11:44And I don't know where we're at with him.
11:45Like, he's just still really getting his feet wet because he's got one goal in ten games,
11:51and he's supposed to be a shooter.
11:53Yeah, and he beat Hill on that two-on-one, but he hit the crossbar.
11:58You know, he had him beaten, but he just didn't hit the net with it.
12:03He hits the crossbar with it.
12:04And with what I'm seeing with him, it's his skating right now.
12:09I mean, he's not skating as well as I know he can.
12:12I don't know if he's just trying to ramp himself up after having a year, basically,
12:17where he hadn't played hockey.
12:20And I know it's frustrating him, and that's the thing.
12:24He can't let frustration set in because when that happens,
12:27he's going to start spinning his wheels, or maybe he has started spinning his wheels.
12:31But that's why I see with him that right now it's just the skating isn't back yet at times.
12:37At times it's there, and at times it isn't.
12:40But, you know, he had that opportunity.
12:44Now you're talking about a guy who can be a shooter in that circle?
12:47There's one.
12:48Norris is another.
12:50Norris can let it fly from over there, too.
12:52As a matter of fact, I think when the second unit got out there for a little bit,
12:56he did have an opportunity from over in that circle.
13:00So there's a couple of guys that can rip it from there.
13:04And at least Kulik is on the power play now.
13:07We'll see what he can do with it.
13:09Paul Hamilton.
13:10Paul, there's a little bit of, you know, Darlene and Power maybe have rough games,
13:14so that might be part of what happens.
13:16I don't know.
13:17I guess I kind of want to ask a broader question.
13:20We do this more in football.
13:22What's the identity of this group right now?
13:25What's the identity of this team?
13:26They are a what team?
13:30Well, when they're on their game and when they're playing well, they're not at the net.
13:35They're crashing the net.
13:37And everybody's doing it.
13:39And I think that's one of the things that anytime we're talking about a good win for them,
13:44we're always talking about guys who are at the net, crashing the net,
13:48and doing the things necessary to get those types of goals.
13:52The goals that, you know, that you need to be around the net to get.
13:57And the Malenstein line is perfect for that, what we're talking about.
14:04And they got rewarded for being at the net.
14:07In the first period, they were around the net at times.
14:12But there were times they were on the perimeter, too.
14:14Tate Thompson brought it up.
14:16That he goes, yeah, we were creating in there.
14:20We got some shots and everything.
14:21But he goes, I think there were too many shots from the perimeter that instead of, you know, around the
14:27net.
14:28And in the National Hockey League now, if you're going to score goals unless the other team is going to
14:34just hand you goals,
14:35like the Sabres did in this particular game, you need to be around that net.
14:40But, now, Timmons hit the post because he did come in from the right point, scooped up the rebound, hit
14:48the net,
14:49or hit the post, rather.
14:51But there was an opportunity where you were there for the big rebound and jumped on it.
14:57There was another one by Doan where he was right there on the tip of the crease.
15:02It's like, all right, if you guys would do more of that, I think you would be able to score
15:08some more goals.
15:08And I know I was commenting on that out in California.
15:12It's like, wow, they're really been at the net.
15:15Every line was at the net.
15:17And they were getting rewarded for being there.
15:20And, as I said, Tate Thompson said last night there was too much perimeter play, he thought.
15:27Paul Hamilton.
15:28All right, Paul.
15:28I don't know what the solution is other than just, like, you know, wait for it to get better.
15:33They're not playing terribly, but they're going to need some results, you know.
15:37And it's easy.
15:38I mean, when we talk about the hard-working player of the game, it's so easy when you have the
15:44Malenstein line just crash in the net.
15:47And, I mean, I could take him easily, you know, for that because not only does he get that,
15:53but he was very instrumental in the two penalty kills in the first period.
15:58But it's almost too easy to pick that particular feature because you only got one or two guys doing it
16:07in some of these games to be able to pick somebody.
16:10So, it makes it kind of easy.
16:13Lukanen next, we would think.
16:15Oh, yeah.
16:16I think they definitely keep going with the rotation.
16:18So, I think Lukanen gets the Wednesday.
16:21Well, they would anyway.
16:22It's back-to-back.
16:23So, Lukanen would get Tampa, and then Ellis would get Chicago the next night.
16:27All right.
16:28Thank you, Paul.
16:29No problem.
16:29Take care.
16:30Paul Hamilton.
16:30His appearance brought to you by Raylaxanda.
16:33Raylax, we got this.
16:34In terms of some Sabres to shout out, we've got the hardest worker of the game.
16:40Do you have anybody that jumps out at you that was particularly hard-working?
16:44It's hard to not just take Benson every single game.
16:47It really is hard to take Benson every single game, yeah.
16:49If it's not going to be Benson, though, it should be called the Zach Benson hardest-working
16:54player.
16:54Sure.
16:55We would just put his name on the award, and then it would make it easier.
17:03Ellis.
17:05Nothing to really make him work in the first half of the game, though.
17:08True.
17:08I'll go with Quinn.
17:10He was flying around.
17:11I'll go with Quinn.
17:12It's the blue-collar workwear hard-working player.
17:14The blue-collar workwear hard-working player of the game is Jack Quinn.
17:18Again, blue-collar workwear where you get ready for work.
17:22803-0550.
17:24On Colton Ellis, Colton Chaos, a couple of good saves, right?
17:30Are you mad about any, Owen?
17:31Are we mad about any of them?
17:34Actually, we should bring this up, because you tweeted about something in the game against
17:39the Audible game.
17:39Where's the shoulder check?
17:40Oh, yeah.
17:42That was against...
17:45Oh, man.
17:46I'm blanking.
17:47Columbus.
17:47Okay.
17:47They won the game, but you had a...
17:48Yes.
17:49There was a little Lukanen thing that was...
17:52To me, it's a very small, minor little point, but it is very telling in terms of process,
17:58I think.
17:58There was a moment on the first Columbus goal, Johnson scores.
18:03Puck gets directed down into the corner, and Lukanen is tracking it, and you see his eyes.
18:08As you can watch his head through the whole play, he watches it into the corner, watches
18:12it just drift further and further towards him behind the net, and never once looks up
18:17the ice to see if anything's coming at him.
18:20And he never looks.
18:21That pass gets thrown up to the ice, and you see him move, and he moves to the middle of
18:27his net, not on the angle of the player, and he doesn't get any depth, because he has
18:31no clue where he's going.
18:32He's just, oh, this pass is going up.
18:34I gotta go somewhere out here.
18:36And you see him get, he gets beat on the short side, I think in part because he's...
18:41Because he comes too far to the middle, and it goes back to where...
18:43Exactly.
18:43And if he had shoulder-checked there and read, oh, this is a righty coming down on the right
18:49side, I gotta stay a little more shaded to my wall side, I think he's got a better shot
18:55to make that sense.
18:55When you say shoulder-check, does that mean you just look to your other shoulder?
18:58It's basically like you'll see he's looking to his left the whole time.
19:01You've gotta just flip your eyes.
19:03You gotta look over to make sure that there's nothing...
19:06Because nothing bad is gonna happen with the puck down there.
19:08The only thing that's threatening is a play out of there to a player up the ice.
19:13And so he's got no clue what's happening anywhere else, and that causes him to be late.
19:18Now that's nitpicky.
19:19He was great.
19:20I thought he was good that night.
19:21Nitpicky won the game.
19:22How about Ellis last night?
19:23Ellis I thought was good.
19:27He did the thing that I think he's done a very good job of, in that he has given them
19:33a chance to win every game he's played.
19:34He's made saves early.
19:36He hasn't put them in a hole.
19:38Even though last night gets to four on 28 or whatever it is, it's not four goals in the
19:45first period and a half.
19:47I'm gonna give you guys a tie game as long as I can, halfway through the hockey game.
19:52And if I get scored on then, and you guys can't get it together, I did what I could
19:59for you.
19:59He made a couple of those huge breakaway saves in the second period, a couple of really big
20:05odd man rush saves.
20:06There was one late in the first that was really good.
20:09He's making difficult saves every time he's in net.
20:13And I think that they are just not...
20:15They're not scoring enough.
20:17I found myself after the game, too.
20:20They need somebody else that can score.
20:21So, you could call it hindsight.
20:23Maybe it is hindsight.
20:24Every day, the Alex Tuck departure looks worse.
20:27It does.
20:28Scored again over the weekend.
20:30It just...
20:30Yep.
20:31The ripples through the lineup, it just looks worse every day.
20:37Now, I guess we kind of maybe knew when they let him go, they might miss him.
20:41The idea is the future and blah, blah, blah.
20:44But it just...
20:44I don't know.
20:45I don't know.
20:46You don't say it looks bad.
20:46It does, because my...
20:48I've said this a million times.
20:50My whole thought process on being okay with it was, well, they're going to do something
20:55else.
20:55Sign somebody, trade somebody.
20:56They're going to do something.
20:57And that has not happened still here.
21:00Yeah.
21:00And we're sitting here like, man, they could really use one player.
21:04At least.
21:05Josh Norris shows up and does something, and what do you know?
21:07They win five to two.
21:09Like, they need somebody to just do the job of being a professional scorer on the level
21:14that Thompson and Quinn are, and they don't have anybody right now.
21:17Yeah.
21:17Right.
21:18And that you can be mad at Doan about that.
21:20You can be mad at a number of guys.
21:22But it's not happening for them.
21:24Yeah.
21:24And like, I know that Quinn gets pointed out about, like, well, Quinn's replacing the
21:28Tuck goals.
21:29Who's replacing the Quinn goals?
21:31No one's replacing the Quinn goals.
21:32And then you also have, like, five other players that are also on pace to do worse
21:36than they did a year ago.
21:36Right.
21:37Ryan McLeod's in the press box.
21:39Right.
21:40McLeod and Crevier, by the way.
21:41Yeah.
21:42That's a very expensive.
21:43Yeah.
21:44I mean, that's 10 million bucks.
21:45There's your Tuck contract.
21:47Although Crevier's not, he's not four until next year.
21:50Whatever.
21:51It doesn't matter.
21:52But you just can't, you can't have this much of your lineup doing worse scoring than
21:58they did a year ago and have it work when you lost a guy like Tuck.
22:04One guy ascending in Quinn wasn't enough.
22:08Like, when it was, well, internal growth is going to replace the Tuck production.
22:12Because it's like a ladder.
22:14You needed to replace the Quinn goals.
22:15And then you had somebody that needed to kind of fill in a round in that middle six.
22:19Plus, Quinn had to go replace the Tuck goals.
22:21Like, you really needed, like, three, four guys to be a part of that internal growth
22:28to have it work.
22:29One wasn't enough.
22:30Right.
22:31And at the moment, it's one.
22:33That's it.
22:33Kulik, nothing.
22:34Helenus, nothing.
22:36Oslin, it's not enough.
22:37It's not his thing to score.
22:39He's not going to score 35 goals.
22:41It's not what he is as a player.
22:42Benson, same thing.
22:44Benson's not going to score 35 goals for you.
22:46Like, it really is.
22:47Who are the guys that really are paid and are here to score goals that are not doing
22:51it?
22:52It's Doan, it's Helenus, it's Norris, and it's Kulik.
22:56Those are the four.
22:57You might want a little something from Zucker, too.
23:00Zucker should be in there.
23:01That five is giving you, like, seven goals.
23:04Yeah.
23:04There's the Zucker thing.
23:06Like, I'm trying to give him some time, but he looks like he's skating in cement to me.
23:10Like, he looks really, really slow to me so far.
23:14And, like, I want to be patient with that because he's an older guy and he's coming
23:18back off an injury and, like, that can take some time.
23:21But it looks like maybe he's hitting a wall.
23:24Well, the other thing is, like, looking at the Sabres, you know, that top line who had
23:28the most minutes at five out of five is Benson, Krebs, and Thompson.
23:32I've got a top line where I really can't ever expect two of the three to score.
23:37Never expect Krebs to score and never expect Benson to score.
23:40Like, that's pretty tough.
23:43It used to be talk on that line.
23:46And I just, I don't know.
23:48I don't know.
23:49I kind of know what the path forward is.
23:52803-0550.
23:53It is a football Monday.
23:53We've got Bills and Vikings to get to.
23:55We'll talk with Sal at 8 o'clock on the latest on the injury front.
23:59Also, though, when we get back, the New Jersey Devils issued a statement about Connor Hellebuck
24:04potentially playing in Winnipeg tomorrow because the Devils are in Winnipeg.
24:07And the Devils came out of it embarrassing themselves and possibly setting the analytics
24:13movement behind 50 years.
24:15Rigid statement, which is hilarious.
24:17Next.
24:17Still has aitch.
24:19Thanks.
24:20Madeleine.
24:21Next.
24:21Next.
24:21If you're in Winnipeg best, go out.
24:21Is this the number?